The present invention has for principal object to minimize the storage space required for storing digital data corresponding to analog or digital information by eliminating pauses or repetitions in the stream of information. The present invention is thus primarily concerned with conserving the storage space to digitally store information such as, for example, audio information. The present invention accomplishes its purpose by not storing information that is unnecessary or that can be easily reproduced such as intervals of time during which no information is supplied, or such as repetitive input information. The present invention therefore has many applications in devices where it is desired to conserve storage space.
Examples of applications in which the present invention is particularly useful are as follows, although it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to such applications:
the storage of audio information such as dictation, speech, or conferences, wherein the information is stored digitally and considerable storage space is normally occupied by silent periods, useless information and repetitive information;
playback of recorded announcements or messages, for example in automatic telephone answering or interception devices;
electronic voice annunciating systems and speech synthetizers;
voice-, tone- or other input-actuated devices remotely started and operated for a predetermined time interval;
bank money transfer devices operated, for example, from touch tone telephones or by digital code or voice prints to condense instructions, to acknowledge instructions by audio messages, and to retain a record of bank transaction requests;
recording and playback of messages to telephone subscribers whose line was busy when called;
playback of recorded messages by remote telephone subscriber instructions;
detection of repetitive patterns and storage of information with respect to the detected patterns, length of the pattern, the length of time to repeat the pattern, and start or stop codes;
message synthetizer reproducing messages reconstructed by combining sounds, partial words, words, phrases and sound periods from a store of such sounds, partial words, words and phrases;
detection and storage of repetition in information or data in digital form.